This seems to be a recurring title!!! But i am determined to master the new blogger format and return to regular blogging of my arty and craft projects.

So what have i been up to recently. I am now looking after DGD full time as Sarah has returned to work and Little Sarah is finally back home after her break away so crafting is a limited hobby at the moment.

But i have been doing lots of scrapbooking and swaps so i will show you a few things. First off i am determined to complete project life this year. So here is my introduction page

And next i have some weekly challenges from UKS. I was trying out a different size format and the theme was to use old stash and paint.

Next is a LO of my DGD, Rebecca, craft gene is in her blood.

A LO of my DD, Little Sarah. I broke out one of my precious Quirky kits here.

Another LO of Rebecca

And finally, A challenge on UKS, aimed at using stampin up stash. This is my dearly departed mother in law, Joan

Monday, 24 October 2011

Bubbly Scrumptious has a new inspiration board challenge,with a prize of some Jenni Bowlin goodies so I thought that I would give it a go. You can find all the details HERE and you have until Sunday to do a project.

My LO-we moved to Scotland in 1994, lived in a caravan for 3 years and slowly renovated our Old Water Mill and garden. We put our heart and soul into creating our Dream Home.

This is my interpretation, green, orange and brown were the colours that stood out,then texture, wood grain overlay, sewing and flowers, embelishments on foam pads made up the layers.

Friday, 5 August 2011

I have recently signed up for the new class by Christie Tomlinson: Creative colour. Its all about sourcing colour inspiration from your surrounds, internet, magazines etc and creating mood boards. Its designed to get you to think about colours you wouldnt neccesarily choose.

So i had a play day with my daughter's Sarah and Sarah (Confused!!!!, one is my own and one is adopted, lol). My adopted sarah is severly autistic but just loves to do arts and crafts. We had such a great time, and L Sarah sat for over 3 hours before she lost her focus.

Here are some pics of the preparation and making the backgrounds.

Even my 9 month old grandaughter got in on the act.

and the finished product. Mine is the green/ mustard one, Big Sarah's is the larger yellow one, its for Rebecca's room and the blue/ pink one is L sarah's.

Isnt this outstanding for a very autistic young lady. All her own work except the rub ons which i did for her.

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

So its been a very long time since i blogged, me and technology you know, lol.

But i have been having a play around this month. We are in the middle of giving our converted mill a spruce up so i wanted somewhere to store my ideas and decorating inspiration, smash book style, but i just couldn't find a folder or album suitable enough. So i decided to have ago at making my own. I had spare A4 ring binders floating around so decided to start chopping them up.

Taking a pencil, mark 2” from the top of the folder. Draw a line all the way across the folder. Using a fresh, sharp knife, carefully cut across the line. Retain the off cut for later. Repeat the process with the bottom edge.

Lay the folder flat again. Using a pencil, mark 6.5” from the spine fold. Draw a line all the way across the folder and carefully cut across. Repeat on the other side of the folder.

Next take one of your off cuts and cut in half. This will form your flap. This should be the same size as the folder, if not, trim to fit. Repeat with the second off cut.

Take your adhesive tape and lay it along the edge of the folder. Carefully place your off cut on the tape, leaving a gap of a few mm and press down firmly. Cut another piece of tape the exact size of the off cut and place over the gap (ie front). Use a bone folder to push the tape into the gap as this will make it bend easier and the tape wont be tight and split. Repeat the process with the second off cut. I cut of my corners on the flap at this point but your can leave them square if you want.

And that is your folder complete. This folder has one flap for closing. But you can use your other off cuts to make a flat pocket on the other side if desired.

Next its time to prepare for decorating. I took some tissue paper and cut it into strips. I used a darker one first as my folder was red so I needed something darker to cover the red. Give the folder a good covering of gel medium and brush the tissue paper down with a brush. It doesn’t matter how rough you do this as it all adds to the texture of it. Cover the front and back in tissue paper. I gave my folder two coats of dark tissue and two coats of light tissue. I left mine to dry naturally in between but you can speed it up with a heat gun if impatient.

Again once dry, its time to add a closure. I wrapped elastic around my folder on this one but on my second one i used a hair bobble. For this method I punched a small hole in the middle of the flap and added a hair bobble. But you can use other products such as shearing elastic, string, twine, ribbon etc. Next take a pokey hole and punch 2 holes in the centre of the front folder. Don’t have them too close together. Take a strong thread and begin to thread through the button and holes. Pull tight. This is why the holes should not be close as the thread will pull through the holes.

Decorate the front cover as desired.

And that is your folder complete. They are very sturdy and look fabulous. Below is another one i am making for the new shimelle class Explore.

Monday, 30 August 2010

Here is my album ready for Shimelle's new class, Learn something new everyday, which starts on Wednesday

Here is my front cover. I am making my pages on tags as suggested by Shimelle so the album is slightly larger than tag size.

Below is a blank tag. I will add the date/day to the little tags at the top. I will make a tag a day i think. Then i have squares of CS that have been ready punched on the BIA that will be sandwiched between two completed tags.

This is the back pocket page for storing all my ready cut blank tags or works in progress.